Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince: Kid Friendly?

By Germain Lussier on July 14th, 2009

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The juxtaposition of the words “blood” and “prince” in the title of the latest Harry Potter is perfect. “Blood” has a violent connotation and “Prince” has a friendly connotation and that dichotomy happens a lot in “Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.” It goes from happy go lucky to straight up scary in a near instant. Luckily, it does so in a manner that most parents will be fine with.

This isn’t some major revelation, of course. The film is rated PG for scary images, some violence, language and mild sensuality. But after the last two films, “Goblet of Fire” and “Order of the Phoenix,” which were both rated PG-13, it might seem like this film harkens back to the milk toast first two. It doesn’t.

In fact, as fans of the series probably know, “Half Blood Prince” is probably the one of, if not the, most evil of the “Potter” books (J.K. Rowling’s series, one could argue, got progressively more violent with each book). It deals with some serious issues yet, in the hands of director David Yates, it’s done with class.

But the film definitely pushes that PG rating to the limit. There is a good amount of blood in a few scenes, some tense moments and a few down right frightening moments. Plus there is a ton of kissing, talk about kissing and prevalent sexual tension between the characters, much of which might make some kids (and their parents) uncomfortable.

Then – of course – there’s the ending, which we won’t reveal here, but after the film does a fantastic job developing characters (better in this film than the previous ones) Rowling chose to kill a major one and it’s pretty devastating. But if the kids have read the book, and most of them probably have, they’ll be expecting it. So it’s not the worst thing in the world. If they aren’t expecting it though, bring some tissues for their tears.

What’s almost worse from a parenting perspective is that “Half Blood Prince” is really long. Like 2 hours 33 minutes long. And though kids are bound to be captivated by the film, especially if they are fans of the series, I really don’t see how it would be possible that any of them could sit still for that long. There will definitely at least be a bathroom break or two. And while the film never quite drags in a film making sense, it might feel a little slow for kids if Harry and Ron are talking about Hermione’s skin or mixing potions.

So, parents, feel safe bringing your kids to see “Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince” this weekend. Just go in knowing it’s not a paint by numbers kids movie. Instead, it’s probably the best film of the series so far and you’ll probably get more out of it than your kids.